A tribute to DJ A-Dog
Andy Williams, known to Burlington club-goers as DJ A-Dog, died Dec. 26 after battling leukemia for a year. His death spurred a trio of local artists to paint a mural dedicated to Williams on an outside wall at the Burlington music venue Nectar's.
A tribute to DJ A-Dog Andy Williams, known to Burlington club-goers as DJ A-Dog, died Dec. 26 after battling leukemia for a year. His death spurred a trio of local artists to paint a mural dedicated to Williams on an outside wall at the Burlington music venue Nectar's. Check out this story on burlingtonfreepress.com: http://bfpne.ws/1jbGjjK
Brent Hallenbeck; Published 4:16 p.m. ET Jan. 17, 2014
An ode to DJ A-Dog, artists (from left) Brian Clark, Scottie Raymond, Jeff Philie and John Young all had a hand in creating a mural -- a tribute to Andy Williams, a skateboarder, an artist and most famously in and around Burlington a master of the turntable -- in the alley around the corner from Nectar's on Main Street in Burlington. Williams died after battling leukemia for the past year.(Photo: RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS, RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS)Buy Photo
Andy Williams, known to Burlington club-goers as DJ A-Dog, died Dec. 26 at the age of 38 after battling leukemia for a year. His death spurred an outpouring of love from friends and fans, with hundreds of them walking from Church Street to Burlington's waterfront in a candlelight tribute to Williams on Dec. 28. A trio of local artists — Scottie Raymond, Brian Clark and Jon Young — recently painted a mural dedicated to Williams on an outside wall at the Burlington music venue Nectar's. Raymond answered these questions by email Monday regarding the artistic tribute to Williams:
Burlington Free Press: How did the idea for the mural come about?
Scottie Raymond: Obviously, the idea of a mural in commemoration of an important icon is nothing new. When we heard news of Andy passing, it was less of a decision to create the piece and more of an imperative. We kind of felt that, as a group of local artists who have worked together before and had access to the alleyway outside of Nectar's because of Brian's relationship with them, stemming from his series of pieces in that location, we were compelled to make the painting happen. It felt like it was the only way for us to express the love for A-Dog and his constant support of all creativity. It was an honor to know Andy and our duty as graffiti writers to pay proper homage to our brother. So, after a brief phone conversation between Brian and I, Brian contacted Jon, reached out to Nectar's, got a green light that was described by Alex Budney (of Nectar's) as "more than lit" and we decided to immediately get to work. We painted through the night, in the snow and cold and had friends of ours and Andy's stopping by throughout the session to show us support and love.
BFP: What did you want the mural to say about the kind of person A-Dog was?
SR: We really wanted the piece to communicate the kind of person that Andy was. The painting shows the fabric that is A-Dog... colorful, positive, interconnected, creative and collaborative. It was also important to us to make the mural about Andy, but to allow his humility to shine through, which is the reason that the actual portrait of Andy is closer to human scale. The background of the piece is based upon drawings that Andy had been working on while he was in the hospital.
BFP: What sort of reaction have you had to the mural?
SR: The reaction to the mural has been incredibly positive. More so than any piece that any of us have worked on before, either together or solo. We have seen dozens of images on Facebook and Instagram (#friendsforadog) of people posed in front of the piece offering their respect. There have been some big group shots, brothers hugging the wall. It has really been tremendous. It has seemingly been like a work of public art therapy... which I guess is what we were really hoping for.
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.
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